The Original Big Date
by Blind Spot
Summary: Sequel to "Look Me Up." October 26th of TP 1985 leading to Marty & Jennifer's date. CHAPTER 5 NOW UP. Slowly but surely, it's comin'. Reviews welcome.
1. Waking Up Again

October 26th, 1985.

10:27 AM.

Sleeping silently as ever on this Saturday morning, Marty was awakened by his faithful Panasonic alarm clock, which was surprisingly loud for its small size.

"**Tell me, mister, where are we goin' this time? Is this the freeway, or a country road at night? All I wanted to do was play my guitar and sing. So, take me away, I don't mind, but you gotta promise me I'll be back in time!"**

The Huey Lewis song had been one of two he had written for the new Michael A. Fox movie called **Fast Lane To The Moon**, about a guy who had a friend with a car that could travel through space. They ended up stuck on the moon with a flat tire and had to get help from various life forms they ran into. Marty had gone to see the movie this past summer, and thought of how impossible and silly the premise seemed, but loved it, as well as the soundtrack.

"OK, Huey, thanks for gettin' me up. I got one more boring day to face now, unless I can get up to the lake. Maybe I could ask Doc," he thought out loud, as he slowly got up, combing his hair by hand.

Looking down, he had a sudden change of heart from last night. After dinner, he got depressed and threw away the envelope with his audition tape of he and the Pinheads' singing a few covers and an original. Now it was laying in his garbage can, but he hoped the future Doc visited last night wasn't based on him not sending the tape in. If it was, would his older self have remembered Doc went to the future and still turned it in himself? The mere idea of time travel hurt his already stressed and full brain. However, what was 100% for sure was that he was going to take it back out and mail it in at last.

With the envelope in hand, he made his way into the same dank living room he passed every day. It was clearly out-of-date with some ancient decorations and a couple old couches that had been sat on one too many times. Even the TV was old! Biff had 'borrowed' the family VCR a month earlier, watching rented movies here was out of the question, as well.

Amongst the mildly depressing surroundings made even worse by the daylight, he spotted his father quietly tidying up a few papers at the dining room table. Hearing footsteps, George looked up.

"Oh, hey son, did you sleep well?" he meekly asked.

"Morning, dad. Yeah, good enough I guess," Marty said a bit unhappily.

"Are you feeling okay, Marty? I realize you're upset about what happened yesterday, I suppose I can't blame you, but I didn't know of anything else I could've done, and I can't have Biff angry with me. I have to go drop these off at his apartment soon, too."

It was exactly what Marty thought he'd hear. If having his own car wrecked wouldn't make him act differently sbout Biff, it was hard for Marty to imagine what would. "I know he's kinda your boss, dad, but, he was drunk. Can't you get anything to be done about that? I mean, the madman coulda killed somebody, you know!"

George understood, but couldn't convince himself to do anything about it. "Well, yes, we know that he was, but the insurance company doesn't. If I tell them that, Biff would know about it, and I can't have that. If I don't say anything, they might ask some difficult questions, or hold me responsible since it was my car. I'll just have the body shop see what they can do about it, it's just easier to do things yourself that way and not cause a fuss."

"I know, dad, but the easiest answer isn't always the best one in the long run, right? He's gonna have to learn to back off someday. You don't want him to be bossing you around when you guys are 80 years old, do you?" Marty asked, thinking of how the future might turn out, after what Doc saw.

"I doubt if we'll still be working together then. But, if the car won't work, can't you get one of your other friends give you a ride to the campsite this evening?" he asked, thinking of one reason his son wanted the car so bad.

Remembering what the 'campsite' really was, he fibbed, "Yeah, maybe, I'll ask Chris' older brother. By the way, are you sure mom will be okay with not having her own car for awhile? Besides, how am I gonna ever borrow that?"

"I suppose we'll just have to work out a schedule or something, but it should only be temporary, I doubt it will be a problem."

At this moment, Lorraine overheard the conversation as she came into the living room. "Good morning, everyone. George, where were you going?"

"Oh, I just have to drop all this off at Biff's. I did some extra work for him as a favor, since he was pretty upset last night, you know."

"Okay, but let's hope he doesn't have to borrow this car, too. He better not, since that's the last one we have left!" she said hastily.

"He said he'd be at home most of the day. I think he got back from his friend, 3D's house already. I won't be gone too long, Lorraine. I just hope it doesn't get too hard with everybody wanting the car at the same time."

Sighing, she reassured him, "It won't be, George, it's just us that will have it. Dave can't legally drive until he passes that test, Linda got too many tickets, and there's no way Marty is taking it as a party on wheels for him and his rowdy friends."

So as to illustrate he heard what was said about him, Marty did an extended, make believe coughing sound as he moved closer.

"Yes, Martin McFly, you heard that correctly. Maybe your father wouldn't have had the courage to say you couldn't go out joyriding in his car, doing 'donuts', 'cruising for chicks' and playing that 'far out' Van Halen rock and roll music on the radio," she said, overemphasizing and making fun of the slang words. "But you can't in mine, young man! I worked too hard for that, back when I still had a job."

Marty shook his head in disgust over he clear exaggeration of anything he ever did. He was a safer driver than many of his peers, certainly not a wildman or anything. He couldn't control what the guys did, but he already had a girlfriend, so he didn't do that either. It was always like this, though. He could be responsible 9 times out of 10, yet his mom would take that other one time to endlessly rub in his face and make him feel guilty.

After a pause, Lorraine continued. "Next thing I know, you and Jennifer Parker will be going on a date up to the lake."

He almost had a heart attack at this moment. **Does she know somehow? **Marty wondered. **Was it just an unlucky guess? Either way, I better be really careful.**

"Hey, not to worry, mom. I'm not going to a party. The guys are just gonna meet up at camp, we're maybe gonna go have dinner or something, than some outdoorsy stuff, that's it. Chris and Alex are at home still, I can call their parents if you don't believe me," he said, obviously already a master at B.S. It was something he did since he was a little kid to get away with stuff.

Lightening her tone, Lorraine told him, "I suppose it's okay, dear. I just worry about you kids sometimes. You'll always be my little boy, no matter how manly or old you get. It's for your own good, Marty."

He hated hearing that line, but at least she didn't seem to be mad anymore. Wanting to leave anyway, he said something that was partially true. "Yeah, you could be right. Oh, by the way, I'll be back in awhile. Before I went away, Doc wanted me to help him out with fixing up his, uhh, new DeLorean. It had a mechanical problem."

"I don't know what a 65 year-old man is doing with a flashy sports car, but I guess that will be okay. Just don't be gone too long."

Getting ready to leave himself, George asked, "Do you need a ride out there, son? I know Biff lives downtown, and it's the opposite way from JFK, but if you don't mind me stopping there first."

Not really wanting to have to depend on his spineless dad for rides anymore, he still agreed. Besides, after looking death in the face last night, he realized how much he really did love his family, even if they were depressing and losers.

"Eh, Doc just said anytime before noon, so that could be okay, dad. I'm staying in the car, though, last guy on Earth I wanna see right now is him," he added with sarcasm.

Without saying a word, George still understood. Collecting his wife's keys, he headed out the front door with Marty following close behind.

"Marty, you promise to come back before you leave tonight, right?" called Lorraine.

"Yeah, I don't think that problem should take much over an hour to check out and fix. I'll be back before 1 o'clock."

Pushing open the screen door, he walked out into the sunlight, which was pretty bright for this time of year. George - dressed in a '50s looking gray long sleeved shirt and also out of date slacks - lifted up the garage door to reveal the sad remains of the Chevrolet that was fully operational less than a day ago.

With a mixture of sadness and anger at the sight, Marty groaned and crossed the garage, which was full of packed boxes that probably still had things in them from before the family had moved into the house in August of 1966, just before Linda's birth. Narrowly avoiding some shovels and picks fastened to the wall, he got in his mom's much newer looking (but even less cool) maroon Taurus station wagon.

Backing out of the driveway, George drove slow, so as to get used to Lorraine's car, which, even after 3 years of her owning it, he didn't really drive that much.

As they turned right, out of Lyon Estates, heading toward downtown, Marty just looked straight ahead or out the side window. He didn't really have too much interest in a ride with his old man, as was often the case, but he was now more thinking of how glad he was for him and Doc to come out of last night alive. He hoped Doc wouldn't be in more danger of another attack, though, after he knew about the clever plan with giving the terrorists pinball parts disguised as a bomb!

Somewhere along the way, George ended up breaking the silence. "What's there in the envelope? Is it your band's audition tape?"

"Yeah, I'm just gonna give it a shot. If nobody at the label thinks it's any good, it's not gonna feel very good, but that's life. How am I gonna know unless I do, right?"

"That's an idea. I'm surprised you would say that, though. If you don't mind my asking, what caused you to change your mind?" wondered George.

Of course he'd never say it, but the main reason he ultimately wanted to mail it in was so he wouldn't fear failure his whole life, much like his father beside him.

"It's, uh, Doc. He just has had so many things happen in his life that are worse than just some music, and he's gotten over 'em. I mean, a lot of people think he's crazy, he's all by himself, there's almost 50 years between us, but I ended up being his friend. I'm sure if someone went back in time to, like the day before we met and told him he was gonna have some 14 year-old as his best friend, he'd have never believed it, yet it happened," he said, using a partially true, newly discovered analogy.

"Heavy, huh?"

"Yes, I have to say when I first heard about your friendship, it's not something I would've thought either. But, that could've just been a lucky coincidence. What if you had met him under different circumstances and not ended up liking him because he didn't say something a certain way, you know? Those are just things I think could happen sometimes."

It wasn't hard to see how his father had ended up this way. Those weren't exactly uncommon fears, but to never take a chance at all would lead to a pretty boring life, Marty gathered.

"I know, that's what I think too, but I'll just have to see what they say. Who knows, somebody could like it, what if one of our songs get on the radio someday? I'll never know unless I send the tape in."

Before the conversation could continue, George had already turned onto Hill Street, near the Aerobics place, to park and go up to Biff's apartment to drop off yet another report only to have one more given to him without so much as a thank you from his jerk supervisor, Biff Tannen. That was bad enough without the car incident, and now having to pay for his dry cleaning too.

Double parking and taking a folder with him, George just said, "I'll be right back, son. Do you want to use that mailbox over there?"

Marty spotted it, also got out with his tape, praying for the best.


	2. Thinking and Talking of the Future

AUTHOR NOTE: March 20, 2004. My apologies it has taken me forever to update this story. I never once lost sight of it, but not having a functional computer for over a month didn't help any. LOL. You won't have to wait until May for anything more from me.

October 26th, 1985.

11:00 AM.

Shutting the mailbox door slowly and with a squeak bad enough to need a can of WD-40, Marty McFly let the envelope with his band's demo tape find its way into the dark slot. There was no turning back now. The worst that could happen was that Chrysalis Records wouldn't like it – as the teen vocally feared the day before, which now seemed like another lifetime in the past.

The best that could happen – well, that was limitless to Marty! A chance for The Pinheads to play at some of the local clubs in the area, possibly a mention in some music magazines, or who knows? The chance to get signed at 17 years old, on the road to performing right next to his rocker idols.

He didn't want to get his hopes up too high for the latter (always expecting they would blow it off as just another wannabe band), but the very idea that a man could create a way to travel through time began to make him realize anything was possible.

Standing on the street with his left hand pushing against the side of the rusted old mailbox, he wiped a bit of sweat from his face with his right, just lost in thought. After a long wait, he mumbling to himself and broke the silence. "Geez, what the h*ll? You've really done it, McFly. So, what's next, just sit at home and wait for 'em to tell me it s*cked. Man, Bryan Adams is still only like 25, and the guy is world famous! My hero, David Lee Roth, is already 30. Like any of that's gonna happen to me."

His thoughts were interrupted by shuffling footsteps, which made him look up and come back to reality all of a sudden. The familiar, soft-spoken voice asked, "Marty, did you mail in your tape?"

Looking as if he already hesitated his less than a minute-old decision, he quietly said, "Yeah, dad. I don't know, though," before changing the subject. "So, I take it that **he** wasn't at home again," said Marty, with obvious sarcasm.

"Yes, it seems that way. He didn't answer the door and I didn't hear anything coming from the house. He should be back soon, though."

Marty got a bit frustrated again, looking down. "Don't tell me you're gonna wait for the loser to stumble in from another drinking binge, are you?"

"No, that won't be necessary. I just put the papers under the doormat and put a note on the door. We can go now," said George, already getting on the driver's side of his wife's car.

"Thank God, let's hope so," said Marty to himself, as he did the same.

The borderline luxury vehicle was beginning its 3-mile trip to JFK Drive to drop Marty off. The first couple minutes were spent in silence, which was not unusual for occasions like this. Marty didn't talk as much to his family about things anymore, mostly worried his mom would give him a talk about how bad or unpopular something was with her. He just had lost a lot of respect for his father over the last several years, so tended to avoid talking with him just because they didn't have that much in common anyway.

However, no matter how gutless the man sitting next to him was, the youngest McFly did love him. He was his father, after all. So he spoke up about something on his mind.

"Hey, dad, can I ask you something?" Hardly waiting for a breath, he continued on, "Why do you think mom is so against me in everything sometimes? I mean, how am I ever gonna go on in life without her stopping to tell me how she never did it and how I'm such a troublesome boy and all that?"

George could actually relate to this very well, since he, often times, was the source of his wife's bickering as well.

"Well, son, I know she gets a bit angry some of the time. I suppose she is just worried about things and doesn't want to see you or your brother and sister get hurt in life. Maybe it's all she knows to do about it."

"Yeah, but, I," Marty paused, contemplating in his mind whether or not to be hones with Jennifer – whom he really was going up to the lake with tonight. Nah, maybe some other time. He resumed with a slightly easier topic, "I'm just wondering, what if Chrysalis likes the band's music? I just think she's gonna sit me down and tell me how rock and roll is ruining young people's lives or something, you know?"

"I'll try to talk to your mother about it, but she may not change her mind. That's just not what she's used to, she doesn't know about things like that very well. It's not from her time, maybe," called George weakly, looking straight ahead as he spoke.

Marty sensed that was only half the story. "Yeah, but, c'mon, what about Chuck Berry? That guy wrote some great tunes, and he's older than you guys. He was big when you were just a little older than me, right? How could she put him down?"

George knew about how his wife really was before they met, but didn't really feel comfortable to divulge that kind of information yet, but didn't want to lie either. "We're all different people, that's all I know of."

Not satisfied with the typical responses he was getting, he asked, "So, we know the age thing doesn't matter as much, but I, you know, I worry about my age sometimes, you know? I almost feel like I'm getting old, ya know?" he said with a chuckle.

"You're not old, Marty. You have 30 years to catch up to your mother and I."

"I know, but, I mean, look at anyone who's famous and how fast they did it. All the older rock stars who are having comebacks were originally big in the 60's when they were younger. And, the newer guys are all not that much older than me. Tom Petty dropped out of high school to be in his first band, worked really hard and had that song 'Breakdown' come out when he was in his mid 20's. Even that was almost 10 years. The way I'm going, I'll be 40 before I have my first hit."

His father was not the hippest guy in the world, musically, but at least he knew a few things, and would even like the occasional rock song now and than, unlike his mom. Still, Marty wasn't sure how many of these guys his dad even knew about, let alone liked.

"I'm not as familiar with music as you are, but, are you sure you want to go with it? I know how you'll feel if another band gets chosen or has more big songs than you. Why not just work as a producer, maybe, and not have to deal with things that could hurt you?"

Here went that same speech again. The one which he would always end up listening to and would be depressed. Before the conversation could go on, it would have to e put on hold for awhile. Not even noticing it, the car pulled into the Burger King parking lot to let Marty out.

"Oh, yeah, I know, but – we can talk about this later, I guess. I'll be back in a couple hours before I gotta go to Chris' place. See you later," said Marty as he swung the door shut and walked towards his friend's house, eager to know about his future.

As Marty went to Doc's door, his father went to get some fast food. He frequented this Burger King, no doubt in part, due to the fact that his other son, Dave, worked there for the past 6 years. George didn't go too many places on a regular basis. He never had too many friends. However, this was one of his few hangouts, and most people knew him.

On this particular Saturday mid-morning, the place was averagely busy with hungry lunchtime customers, but there were 3 registers open. George went up to one, recognizing someone behind the counter.

"Oh, hey Ralph," he said to Dave's best friend.

"Hiya Mr. McFly. I heard about your car last night. Sorry about it, pal."

Assuming Dave told him, George simply nodded agreeably before ordering. "I think I'll have a number 4. And, gimmie a Coke," after a pause and setting a 5 dollar bill on the counter, he continued, "Diet."

Meanwhile, Doc answered the knocking on his door.

"Marty!" he said happily.

"Yo, Doc, I'm so glad you're okay after last night," said Marty as he did something a bit unusual for him. He actually hugged the scientist, having been in fear for both their lives last night.

Doc returned the favor, and within a short time, he came in, shutting the door behind him. It was clear something else was on Emmett's mind, though. Before Marty could ask what it was, the information was given to him.

"Marty," he began, with a slightly irritated, yet not angry look, "listen, kid, I'm sorry to begin with this, I really don't know if this is the correct time to discuss such a matter, but I have to ask, what in the name of Thomas Edison happened to the amplifier?"

This was one of the things he hoped wouldn't come, but knew he'd have to face it sometime.

"Yeah, I'm really sorry about it. It-it just kinda h-happened, I had no idea anything was wrong with it, I just was doing what I normally would and it blew up."

"That's okay, there's more important things to worry about in the world, but could you just tell me if something like that happens again? I'm serious." From his voice, anyone could tell he was too.

"Yeah, I can understand that. Sorry. What happened was I had just turned it on, plugged in and got blasted back into the shelves over there. That's why everything is cleaned up. Than you called, and I was kinda just caught off guard."

"It's forgotten and done. Now, would you like me to tell you about my time traveling experience last night? Or, to be precise, early this morning."

"Of course. Did you get away from the terrorists? What happened to them?" he asked with concern.

"Yes, and gathering from future evidence, that won't be a further problem. They had an accident as they tried to pursue me and your future self even assured me they were still imprisoned."

Not meaning to get off the subject, that caught his attention. "Oh, speaking of that, how was I like in the future? I'm I a rich rock star or do I look like an old man or anything?"

Slowing way down, because much would need to be explained, he motioned Marty toward a wooden chair in his living room, near the jukebox.

"Marty. Sit down, there's a lot to talk about. I think you'd get along with your future self. He's," Doc hesitated a bit. "Still not unlike you are. You have a family as well, but I'll get to that later. Let me start from the beginning."

Marty listened intently.

12:30 PM.

"That's amazing. Jesus Christ, seeing 2010, and me. Does he – I – remember you going to the future and having this conversation now?" said Marty with enthusiasm after more than an hour of conversation had gone by. Most of which was Doc talking and Marty just nodding or throwing in the occasional question or comment.

Of course, there were a few things Doc had to be very careful **not** to let his young friend know, such as how he would eventually get married to one of Marty's Junior College teachers in only about 2 ½ years!

He was also careful not to tell him too much about details of his future, such as where he worked or that he & Jennifer would get married. Mostly it consisted of things such as the Café 80's and the beginning of flying cars. He also told Marty that he, himself would still be alive at 90 years old. However, he did do his best to answer that last question.

"Well, your older self didn't completely understand it either, since he didn't remember what I told him about my trip to the future. He recalled me leaving for the future and coming back, but that part of his memory was unclear. And, theoretically speaking, how would you know details of something that hadn't happened yet?"

Expecting an answer along the lines of English, Doc!, he realized he should make the point clearer.

"So, what I relayed to your older self was that because I had not yet returned from 2010 to 1985, that part of the future was still not quite written. I would assume the conversation he and I had after I was supposed to return were just like this. In fact, in 25 years, chances are you will be him, or an extremely close copy."

Marty tried his hardest to understand. Some of it made sense, but much did not.

"Well, hey, what about Einstein? Why did he disappear for the minute he was gone, but you didn't?"

"I had a theory that it was because I never intended to send him back. Why would I do that just for one minute? If that did occur, I believe Einstein would've seen his future self. However, since I had every intention of returning, I arrived in a future based on my coming back. But, as I said, it was still in flux, that's why that part of your future self's memory was blank."

Fearing if a 25 years-older version of Marty didn't fully understand time travel, neither would the one from the current time. "Listen, though, I just discovered time travel myself, I don't hold any blame if you're having trouble comprehending anything. By the way, I thought you mentioned something last week to me about going up to the lake, right?"

So lost in time travel concepts and the idea of how his life would change, he almost forgot for a minute about his girlfriend. Rising out of his chair, he abruptly turned to Doc, who was looking at what was left of the amp. "My God, holy sh*t, Jennifer! That's right. I was gonna go up there with her tonight, but because Dad's pain in the a*s supervisor, Biff, he wrecked the car last night, so I can't."

"Yes, I recall Biff Tannen as a teenager without too many fond memories myself. You never said that last night, but, I suppose there wasn't time with everything else concerning the time machine," he said, thinking of all the times Biff and his friends toilet papered his mansion.

'Yeah, now the truth of my real life is starting to set back in. Basically, it went like this. Biff and dad were at work, Biff's car was in the shop, but he wanted to go out, so he took dad's car. Of course, he's too much of a wimp to say no to that. So, Biff gets drunk and crashes head first into some old man in a van. Great guy, huh? Not only did he total dad's car, but pretty much ruined any chance I had to be alone with Jen for once."

"Is there any other way for you to arrange getting up there? What about your friends in the band? Alex and Chris both have cars, right?"

"Yeah, but that's where the problem kinda is. Mom would never in a million years let me go up there with her. So, I fibbed and said me and the guys were going on a camping trip up there. I don't wanna lie, but getting past mom is like getting past the crowd at a Who concert," he joked, referring to the famous incident a few years earlier.

"I've had my own experiences with her, when I first met you, in particular. I realize how she's not always very understanding or agreeable, but what if you told her it was just a special occasion. Surely your parents must have done something like that when they were a new couple."

Marty tried to get the mental picture, than just as quickly trying to get rid of it. "That's not something I wanna think of, Doc. Knowing them, though, I doubt that. Dad's too spineless to ask a girl out, and, geez, the way mom talks about that. I mean, she thinks even **calling a boy** is terrible," he said, doing a voice of what he remembered her saying at the dinner table the night before. "Forget about anything else. If she knew we've kissed before, I think she'd physically keep me under house arrest until I'm 30."

Thinking he was probably right, the scientist still thought he'd ask again. "Are you sure you want to go behind her back. Think about that, I, myself would hate to think what happens if she found out after the fact."

"You're not kidding about that! But, hey, I snuck out to meet you last night. Imagine what would've happened if I couldn't do that?"

Knowing he was one of the most important people in Marty's life as well, he had even more of a clear picture of where he was coming from. "Well, alright, I suppose the occasional thing can't hurt. After all, what fun would life be without that, right? I could drive you both up to the lake tonight and pick you up tomorrow, if you wish. But, I just want to tell you that, hard as it may seem to believe, your mom might not always be like this."

Hardly able to contain his happiness, the teen barely heard the last sentence, and said, "Hey, thanks a lot, Doc! That's great of you to do. So, what time should I be over here?"

"Oh, is 4:00 okay?, he questioned with a straight face."

"Yeah, I'll give Jennifer another call, just to make sure she didn't make other plans." He was must about to head out the door, when something Doc said before caught his attention now. "Whoa, wait, Doc."

Emmett turned around, all ears. Marty continued, "What did you say about mom not always being as she is? Is this something about the future?"

He wasn't sure about how much he wanted to reveal about the future. Materialistic things, such as music of TV shows were passably okay in vague terms (just as long as Marty didn't try to invent them ahead of schedule!), but personal things in life could be dangerous.

Due to older Marty's lack of knowledge on the events surrounding Doc's trip to 2010, he had no idea if he was 'supposed to' have this conversation with him all along, making it a part of that 42 year-old Marty's past, or if it could somehow spawn a totally different reality. Why did time travel have to be so confusing already!?

"I can't say too much. Just that in 25 years, your mom and you, as well as other people, will get along a bit better. I cannot tell you the circle of events, but I had contact with her when I arrived in 2010. I didn't know how to use some of the futuristic technology, and I didn't want to attempt to ask anyone else about where to find you, so I went to your house, I mean, your current home, and called your future self from there. I had a brief conversation with her at the time, too."

"That's amazing, Doc, I wonder what could be different, but I guess I shouldn't ask too much, right?"

"I would tell you, but I'm just afraid if you have prior knowledge of future events, you could change them without even intending to. I'll just say this change still won't happen for several more years."

Figuring, that was all he would get, he reached for the front door, where he had been standing, deciding not to push the issue. "Still, I can't believe what I just heard. Well, I'm gonna get home now. Should we pick Jennifer up, or do you want us to both be over here together?"

"Just to make sure you don't get in trouble, we will pick her up together, but you should let her know this. I'll see you soon, Marty," called Doc, as Marty headed out of the converted garage, relieved and a lot happier than he was a couple hours ago.


	3. Back To the Mall

Just as Marty was walking away, the scientist had a sudden realization. Something had been nagging at him all day and couldn't figure out what it was, until now. He remembered Marty did not have his skateboard with him, so he could likely still catch him before he disappeared. He needed his help now!

"Great Scott!" he yelled as he dashed for the front door and practically flying outside, crashing through the fence around the converted garage that once part of his mansion. He noticed Marty starting to head past the Future Glass shop (quite a name of irony, Doc thought) up the street.

Gasping a bit in awe and shock, he yelled, "Marty, hold it, kid, you have to come with me, I forgot something truly important in all the confusion here!"

Marty could tell from his voice that it was true. He turned around to face his friend. "Yeah, Doc, w-what's the matter?"

"Come back toward the house, I'll explain!"

As they walked (quickly) far enough away to prevent being heard by anyone on the street, or at the Burger King Drive-Thru window, he didn't lose a beat in his speech.

"I need you to come with me to the mall. Listen, I feel terrible, I can't assume how I would have forgotten this, but it appears we left my van there last night, along with Einstein. I pray the boy is okay," he uttered with voice lowered.

"Jesus Christ, that's right. Einy is a smart dog, Doc, I'm sure he'll be fine, but we better get going," Marty said. "We're taking the DeLorean, right?" he assumed, since that was the only other car Doc had.

"Yes, it's parked around the side," yelled Doc as they went back inside the fence and turned left toward the alley where the sports car was resting since about 11 hours ago. "Go ahead, quick, get in!"

Marty obeyed, lifting up the gull wing door without so much as saying a word. Emmett hopped in the driver's seat, visibly worried, which was understandable. Turning the key in the engine, he made sure the time circuits were turned off, and peeled out of the long 'driveway' to his makeshift backyard (near where a few small remains of his mansion stood on a teeny hill nearby), and made a sharp U-turn before making a left turn out of the parking lot.

As they started down JFK on the mile drive to the mall, Marty asked the question, "Do you think anybody, ya know, shoppers and all, will look in your van or at the plutonium box on the ground?"

Trying not to think about it, Doc only said, in a hurried voice, "We can only hope that's the case here. If something drastic has happened, I may have no choice but to travel back to this morning and take care of it myself (after my other self and the Libyans are gone). However, that will only be a last resort."

"Does Einstein have any food and water in the van at all?" asked Marty. Can he go half a day without? Luckily, for him, I noticed the place overflowing with his food yesterday morning."

"Yes, I haven't quite figured out a way to dispense the contents of the cans in his dish properly yet," he remembered, his mind temporarily drifting off the subject. "I don't know how I could possibly forget something like that. Not only leaving my property out for anybody to touch, but leaving my own dog trapped inside the vehicle."

Marty understood completely. "I'm sorry, Doc, I almost feel like this is my fault. He really is a great dog, " he reflected on how much he actually like the animal that wasn't even his own. Neither he nor his siblings had a pet in their lives, even as young kids. They did, however, have a tacky, life-size parakeet replica with a cage in the living room. Dave wanted to get a dog when he was about 10, but the parents didn't listen.

Lorraine didn't want to have to worry about cleaning up after a pet and didn't see the point in having one if it would just die in several years anyway. George thought they were kind of nice, but had the idea of What if somebody forgets to feed him, or take him for a walk? Why take a responsibility of that when something could go wrong?

Doc had trained Einstein to do so many tricks and listen to human commands, that it almost seemed he was human. The name was certainly fitting!

Soon after, they pulled up to Twin Pines Mall and gunned the car to the other side of the big sign with a digital clock and two pine trees. On this bright sunny day, which was unusually warm for late October, there were a few Saturday afternoon shoppers, many of which were getting Halloween related things, since that was next Thursday.

It was mainly empty, though, and luckily no one was parked in the area of Doc's work van, which read **Emmett Brown. 24-Hour Scientific Services** along the side.

Screeching to a halt a few feet away, the duo got out and rushed to the large vehicle, which remained undisturbed from how they had left it the night before.

"It's a relief there's hardly anyone here. I'll load the stuff inside while you check on Einy if you want," offered Marty.

That was just what Doc was already doing though, as he unlocked the passenger side door and nervously looked in the cab. Sure as ever, sleeping peacefully on the right front seat was the 3 year-old dog. His owner happily reached over to pet him. "Hey there, Einy, did you miss me?"

The dog soon woke right back up as if nothing had ever happened, barking once or twice and wagging his tail, obviously glad his master was okay, as well.

"Marty, now I'm feeling a bit easier knowing this was okay, but it could have turned out quite differently. Could you take the DeLorean back to the house while I take the van?"

"Yeah, no problem, Doc," he paused; looking up at the large silver vehicle, which has housed the car he was about to drive last night. He, too, reached out to pet the animal. "Hey, Einstein. Sorry we missed ya, boy!"

Shutting the door and going around the driver's side to get in, he turned back to Marty. "After you drop the DeLorean back off, I can give you a ride back home before tonight. Since that was where you were originally headed."

"Okay, but are ya sure about it? I can walk, no biggie at all. That's a lot of driving to do in one day."

"It's not too far to the lake in any event. Besides, I'm already going to be behind the wheel anyway, no further harm in going another mile to drop you at your residence."

"Hey, thanks," said Marty as he hopped in the driver's seat of the DMC for the very first time. As much as he had other things on his mind, right now, the teen had to admit he loved the idea of getting to drive a great sports car like this! In fact, he had never driven one before. He had a driver's license, but never in a million years would Lorraine allow him to have his own car! Jennifer still drive yet at all, her father was even more old-fashioned, and didn't allow her to borrow his car ever, even though she knew how to drive as well.

Other than the occasional spin in one of his older friend's cars, pretty much, the only one he had driven in his life was dad's dull, white '77 Chevy Reliant, which Biff wrecked yesterday!

His thoughts of taking the long way and testing out the car's speed were suddenly deadened by that thought. Better to be a careful old-fashioned driver than a madman like Biff Tannen.

So, he chose to simply fall in behind Doc as they made the uneventful mile long trip back to 1646 JFK Drive.

1:00 PM.

The two vehicles pulled up to the front of Doc's place, with Marty taking the DeLorean over to the side of the building where it was before, and shut the engine off, getting out and taking the keys with him.

The motor of the large van kept running as Doc got out and briefly waked Einstein into the house. "You can get in, I'll be right back," he said. Marty jogged over and got in the passenger side, handing the keys over to Doc.

Leaving the front door of the house open, Doc quickly got a bowl of cold water and fresh canned dog food. "There you go, boy. I won't be gone long this time, Emmett reassured as he left and quickly walked back outside. 

"Man, this sure is an eventful weekend," said Marty as Doc began to back up and turn around. "Everything seems to be getting back on track now, though."

"We can only hope it stays that way. I do have to tell you one thing, though. Don't mention anything to Jennifer about time travel. I' would gladly tell her if she was there, but I'm afraid that sort of occurrence must be seen to be believed."

"Yeah, I can see that. I don't know what I would've thought if I hadn't seen it. H*ll, I had trouble for a second even after it disappeared. I thought the car just blew up or something. That was heavy."

Looking over, Doc hastily said, "Precisely! This is why you cannot let anything slip about it. It's our discovery. However, I must realize it would be strange to be the only one in your school to have knowledge of being able to bend the fabric of time."

"I tell you I'm gonna have to be walking on eggs with what I say, though. Everyone says stuff like, 'I wish I could go back and change this,' and I'll have to remember not to tell them they really could."

"Correct, it will be the same in my case. I learned that during my brief stay in the future. Trying to pose as my older self was not easy, and that was only for a few hours. We will have to go our lives not telling anyone, it won't quite be the same," thought Doc before something came to his mind. "Great Scott! Do you have the video footage from last night's experiment?"

"Yeah, no worries. After you and the Libyans drove off I went back home and kept the camera hidden in my room. I'll get it back to you when I came over this evening."

As they turned into Lyon Estates, Doc agreed. "That's good. Can you imagine what would happen if that tape fell into the wrong hands?"

"No, but I may as well not even think about it," Marty responded dryly as he prepared to get out of the van, as his house came into view on his side of the van.

"Oh, man! Son of a-," he said before continuing, "It's Biff here, again! I recognize that, it's his own ugly car he's getting out of. Dad just dropped off his reports this morning, what does he want now? We should ram his car in, let him know how it feels!" Marty ranted as he mildly punched the interior of the van door.

"Relax, Marty, I understand. Even without him crashing your father's car, he's still a bit of a nuisance. Just see if you can stay out of his way. I'll see you in a couple hours. Why don't you give Jennifer a call?"

"Sure will, Doc. See you soon," Marty said quietly as the scientist starting to make a slow U-turn (which required a lot of maneuvering) and he walked around to the side gate. He would cross through the backyard and into his window, hopefully able to avoid that jerk for once. All he wanted to do was return home in peace for once!


	4. Coming Home

October 26th, 1985.

1:10 PM.

As he slid the window open as he did almost all the time (and thankfully his secret still was apparently unknown to anyone but Dave, who wouldn't bother to tattle on his brother anyway), he comfortably landed on his bed. Not wanting Biff to know he was in the house, Marty crept over to his bedroom door and, ever so lightly opened it, praying it didn't squeak or anything.

It did not, and he saw that Biff had apparently let himself in the house. Even for him, this was a bit nervier than usual. There really were times Marty had to resist the urge to charge the rude bully and kick the cr*p out of him. Now almost seemed like one of those times. He just watched through the cracked opening in the door, though.

George's 47 year-old athletic but a bit overweight supervisor strode down the hall, calling, "Hey, McFly, you home?" Getting closer to the back bedrooms, he continued, "McFly, it's Biff, if you're in here, speak up, I gotta show you something."

Still not hearing a response, Biff thought he'd go check himself. It was not in George's nature to avoid him. No matter what the case, he would always comply with Tannen, even if he visibly did not want to. His loud (but not that fast) footsteps continued down the hallway with Marty still peeking at him, unknowingly.

Without as much as a knock, he made his way into one of the bedrooms. Marty could tell it was his sister, Linda's. A second later, he heard her say a loud, "Hey! Biff, what are you doing in my room, you perv?"

Meanwhile, Biff just looked at her and sarcastically said, "So-rry" like an Elementary schooler might do. "It was a mistake. Now look, I just wanna know where your old man is."

In a downer voice, she just said, "He got home about an hour ago, maybe he's sleeping or something."

Turning away, the middle-aged immature man just said, "Well, that wasn't so hard, was it?"

Watching and hearing all this, Marty thought, **Gee, Linda can have a short fuse a lot, but I don't blame her there.**

Going several feet the other way, up another short hallway leading to the master bedroom, Biff knocked loudly on it. "McFly! Hey, you in there?"

Before long, George was stirred from an afternoon nap after coming home from Burger King. Whether he was sleeping or not, that voice was recognizable anytime. Biff had bullied him since they were 6 years old! Moving from his position, he said "It's unlocked, come in."

As the door slid open, George said, "I'm sorry, I-I must have just fallen asleep. Did you see the reports I left at your apartment?"

"Yeah, I got 'em, that's better late than never, they actually look okay. I even got my car back today. The workload is caught up, but I gotta go to the dry cleaners later on today, and you said you were paying the cleaning bill for my jacket last night. It don't look too good with Budweiser on it!" he emphasized, his voice getting a little louder, even if he was clearly in a better mood than yesterday.

Getting off the bed and standing up, George backed down in a heartbeat as usual. "Uh, sure, how much do you think the cost will be?"

"I dunno, but I gotta be covered. So, do you have 20 bucks?" he said, though it was more a demand than a request.

Going over to one of the nightstands where his wallet was, George reached in and got a $20 bill out. "Oh, sure, I've got it right here. I hope this covers it, I'm sorry about what happened."

Pocketing the money, Biff retorted, "And I'm sorry about the car, but s**t happens. We're even now. I'll see you at work on Monday, McFly," he called as he slowly made his way toward the front of the house. That was about as close to a real apology as he would ever come to giving.

Rather than get mad about this, Marty came to expect it. Although his feelings on Biff and bullying his father were the same, right now he just didn't have the patience or mindset to try and talk to George about it. Instead, he wanted to relax a little before the forbidden big date tonight. He still had to put up a facade of his camping trip, too. For starters, he reached over behind his bed and turned on his gray Sony dual tape boombox.

"**I have tried before to tell her, of the feelings I have for her in my heart. Every time I come near he, I just lose my nerve as I've done from the start! Well, every little thing she does is magic…**" 

The simple act of listening to good music was already making him feel better. After a couple minutes, another line came up that really caught his attention.

"**…My silent fears have grabbed me, long before I reached the phone. Long before my tongue has tripped me. Must I always be alone?**"

Despite Marty's usual coolness, he really was a bit shy about these things sometimes, especially calling a girl. Even if he did know her for almost a year and they were practically inseparable. He thought Sting and the guys must have practically crawled inside his head and used a mind reader on him when they wrote that song. He did not want to be alone, and he wanted to go on that date tonight. Now was the perfect time!

He turned his mix tape down and dialed her number. He assumed she should be back from her grandma's house by now. Heart beating a little faster, he waited for her strict dad to pick up and basically tell him to buzz off just because he was calling the house, and was male.

RING. RING. On the third ring, a young female voice picked it up. "Hello."

Marty was never totally sure with voices, especially over the phone, even though he was pretty sure who it was. "Yeah, um, is this Jennifer?"

"Yeah,"

"Yo, it's me, Marty! You got home from grandma's, huh? How did the visit go?" he said, now feeling fine.

"Yeah, we got back this morning. It was nice spending the night there for a change. I feel so much better getting a chance to talk to you again. It's really too bad about Biff and the car. Maybe we can just celebrate my birthday next weekend."

"Hey, Jen, good news. I was talking to Doc and he said he'd take us up there. I'm still gonna take some sleeping bags so it looks like I'm going camping."

On the other end of the line, her voice perked up a bit. "That's great, Marty! What time?"

"He's gonna come by with me. I'm gonna meet him at his lab around 4, so I dunno, maybe 4:15 to 4:30. Just one thing, though, how are we gonna get this by your drill sergeant, I-I-mean, dad?"

Not worried in the least, she insisted, "Don't worry, I told him I was staying over at my friend, Suzy's house for a slumber party. Yeah, right? Maybe when I was 10 I would've done that. My father is not that hip, though, so that works to our advantage, right?"

"You got that, right! You know, I think my mom and your dad should've gotten together. Can you imagine all the rules in that household?" he asked with a laugh.

"Oh, come on, I don't think they're quite that bad, just old-fashioned."

"Well, hey, listen, I'm gonna relax here for a couple hours and I'll meet you around 4:15."

Just as he was about to hang up and expected her to say goodbye, he detected an adult male voice over the line. "Jennifer Jane Parker, whom are you speaking with?"

"Don't worry, daddy, it's just Suzy, she said she's gonna meet me here at 4:15 to go up to the la-little slumber party she's having."

The stern man wanted to be sure. "Well, if it truly is her on the phone, surely you won't have a problem with me confirming it, would you?" he said as he picked up the receiver. "Hello, am I speaking with Susan?"

**Oh, s**t!** Marty said to himself. He clearly was not prepared for this and his options were a bit limited. He could say he had to go and hang up, but if that happened, he might be back to square one, and her strict dad would surely suspect something. However, as nervous as he could be, one thing that could be said about Marty is that he was surprisingly good at coming up with stuff in pressure situations such as this.

Mustering up all his courage and pretending like he had taken in some helium, he disguised his voice and spoke into the phone.

"Yes, Mr. Parker. This is Suzy! Hi there, heeheeehehe," he did an impromptu high-pitched girlie giggle. He hoped it was convincing, he didn't want to overdo it either, but by his age, doing a female voice was something he really had to work on. If he was 12 instead of 17, that could've been easier.

Suzy was a girl Jennifer knew from school, who was a cheerleader. Marty knew her a bit, but couldn't quite remember her voice to a T. Not completely recognizing the voice, Parker spoke up again to clarify.

"Suzy, are you okay? I'm going to give the telephone back to Jennifer now, but I just wanted to check in."

Still trying his hardest to not laugh, as well as keep this charade up, Marty continued the girlie voice, "Oh, now, that's totally fine, sir, have a nice day!"

Jennifer still didn't want to give it away, even though her dad apparently was convinced by it and walking away. "M-Suzy, great job!" she said, trying not to laugh herself. This was on a speakerphone, so she heard the whole thing.

"Yeah, I didn't know I could still sound like a real girl, I-"

Suddenly he was cut off. "Shhhh. Shhhh, not now!" Jennifer loudly whispered.

"Oh, yeah, sorry," said Marty quietly. "So, I'll see you soon."

Jennifer couldn't wait. "Yeah, b-bye," she said, clicking the hang-up button.


	5. Getting Prepared

NOTES: Due to the recent death of J.J. Jackson – one of the original MTV VJ's – I dedicate this chapter to his memory.

Marty sat there, wanting to laugh at himself, amazed and very relieved that the impromptu vocal trick he had done seemed to work on Jennifer's dad. In a normal case, he may not have done that, but all he wanted to do was get some time alone with his girlfriend for crying out loud!

Seeing as though he wasn't supposed to leave the house on his 'camping trip with the guys' until close to 4 o'clock, he turned the music off and decided to get some sleep for a couple hours, setting the Panasonic alarm radio for 3:30. This had already been a long morning again!

Now was as peaceful of a time as any to get rest. George had probably gone back to bed himself, Linda was just sitting in her room doing nothing (as usual), and mom & Dave were both out separately. Letting himself drop onto his bed, and putting an arm behind his back like normal, the teen drifted off into a perpetual nap.

~~~

Meanwhile, less than a mile away, in a housing complex across the street from Lyon Estates, Jennifer Parker was watching TV on the couch in her living room. She was still reeling from the shock of the stunt Marty had just pulled. That would make this evening even more special, since both sets of parents believed each were going somewhere – but not with each other.

Not to mention, her 49 year-old father, Leonard, acted like he was 79 when it came to being hip. He'd never dream of letting her borrow the family car, even if she had her drivers' license. However, Jennifer often assumed it was partly due to him being a bit stressed after the 1983 divorce from her mother before they moved to Hill Valley from Folsom.

Leonard's own parents had separated before he was born, and he lived with his father in the suburban Sacramento area. However, his brother, Lester, and his mother were lifelong Hill Valley residents. Furthermore, Leonard Parker couldn't stand George McFly (whom his brother worked with at the Bank & Trust) and thought a grown man was a fool for letting Biff Tannen and practically the whole world walk all over him.

This was likely where his dissention of Marty originated from, on top of him playing rock & roll, not liking school, and being a slight troublemaker, even if he was a good person underneath. To even let Jennifer date the guy was something that was hanging by a thread, so she didn't want to push it with anything else, and just tried to keep him happy however she could.

**Maybe he'll see Marty for who he really is someday** she mused to herself, while the seemingly endless run of commercials played.

**…For the low, low price of $27.99, you can own titles like, E.T., National Lampoon's Vacation, and, brand new on video cassette, Footloose. This weekend, at Kmart."**

Finally, MTV came back on.

**"Hey, J.J. Jackson back with you here. We'll be having a candid interview with Hall & Oates at 3 this afternoon, but for now, since the world series is going on, we're gonna play one of John Fogerty's comeback songs and the hit video. Still riding high on the charts from the former CCR frontman, hey, why don't we all go and play "Centerfield!"**

As the claps began, her father came down the stairs again. "Now, Jennifer, if I may, I'd like to ask you something."

**Geez! Why now, just when the music came back on? There was an hour of commercials you could have interrupted **thought his daughter. However, it's not like she was gonna actually say that!

Somewhat downbeat and visibly annoyed, she went, "Yes, dad?"

"What kind of a tone is that to take to your father? I only wanted to ask when you girls were planning to leave. I assume Suzy will be escorting you to your other friend's house, right?"

"Mmm, yeah, I guess. She's got her own car, dad," she said, half mumbling and trying to look around him as he stood straight up, partially blocking the TV. "Unlike some other girls," she said under her breath so quietly she could barely hear it herself.

"And, what was the time you were leaving here?" he continued on.

After several seconds of silence, only broken by Fogerty's voice in the background ("**The sun came out today"**), Jennifer repeated, "Soon, sometime, yeah. Gotta be there at 4, so I'll leave here, I dunno 3:30."

Mr. Parker seemed to take that believably, but had more questions. "What are you planning to do there? If it's a slumber party like you told me it was, that won't start until later. There won't possibly be any boys at this party, will there be?"

**This is clearly not good, **Jennifer thought. He was strict and uncool enough as it was, but whenever the subject of the opposite s*x came up, this was no time for celebrations. His views on the subject were as old-fashioned as a Model T. After a good 10 seconds of further silence, the large, dull-looking man turned around and manually shut the early television set off (this was one of the push button models before remote control ones became commonplace).

"Hey! Daddy, I was watching that! You know, Marty really likes that song, he said it was a great comeback for him," cried Jennifer.

"Comeback?" he scoffed angrily. "I never paid attention to him originally. I don't know what it is with you kids listening to this noise, and I don't even want to bring up that bad influence of a boy right now. Go ahead and turn the TV back on as soon as I find out a few things. Now, I just want to make sure Suzy is a good driver and won't go joyriding or anything. You girls will just be going there and back, right? You know, this is the second night in a row you'll be away from home," he added.

Exhausted from listening to this speech for what seemed to be the millionth time, she still had no problem agreeing, especially if that wasn't what she really was doing! "Oh yeah, she's been driving for almost a year, never gotten a ticket at all. Never done anything to get one either."

Leonard walked down the hallway a bit, toward the stairs. With Jennifer following, he continued, "So, when will you be getting back tomorrow morning?"

This actually was something she hadn't considered. If she was going to the lake, she would have to either spend the night there (which actually would back up her story if she packed anything to take), or would have to come back late enough to sneak into bed.

After pausing to think, she came up with a relatively fast answer. This was probably inherited from seeing Marty do it so many times in school. "I think I'll be back before 8 AM. Early enough to make school, if I were going," she said with a little laugh, hoping to slightly improve her father's humorless mood.

Luckily it seemed to work a bit, as Leonard Parker smiled just a teeny bit. "OK, now that sounds reasonable. Listen, honey, I don't mean to sound like such an old square, which I'm sure I do sometimes. I just want to take care of my only girl, you know? I suppose I'm just not too hip on things today. That just makes communicating harder between us."

Stepping a bit closer and looking sincere, his daughter said, "Yeah, daddy, I know. It's not an easy match sometimes, but I try too. I just hope you can try to see things a different way sometimes. I mean, you were a teenager too, you know. You used to be cool, didn't you? What kind of guy could I expect to find if I got in a time machine and went back, maybe 30 years?"

**If only she knew.**

"Oh, just an already boring workaholic, I suppose," Parker said, a bit downbeat, as Jennifer still listened. "Bill Haley, Elvis and Chuck Berry were all popular when I was in my late teens and early 20s, but I wasn't much fonder of that kind of thing even then. It just never appealed to me. Maybe if I was born 10 years later, so that was in my childhood, it would have, but I have my doubts to that. Not everything suits everybody. I will do my best to think more youthfully for you," he said.

"Go ahead, turn the television on. I'm really not mad, I just wanted to have a little talk, and I think it helped. I'll be upstairs, just let me know when you leave."

"Yeah, I feel better too. And I will do that, thanks for the talk," she said, going back to the couch, and clicking the TV on, only to find another video now on, this one from Lionel Richie, featuring people partying and walking the nighttime streets.

**"We were running with the night. Playin' in the shadows. Just you and I, till the morning light."**

How true that statement would really be in her life soon.

~~~

3:40 PM.

Still dozing asleep after a rather tiring morning and night before, Marty faintly heard a telephone ringing, jarring him awake on the second ring. Even though the phone was right next to his head, and relatively loud, he was a very deep sleeper. This was something some people mistook for laziness.

Reaching for it with his right hand a bit sloppily and groggily, he pushed his way into a sitting position on the bed and was about to snatch it up before the third ring stopped.

"Hello, is Marty available at the moment?" called a raspy, upbeat male voice.

"Uhh, this is Doc Brown, right?" called the low key, somewhat whiny George McFly. "Sure, I believe he's in his room. Maybe he missed the call, I'll go tell him."

Marty was just about to speak into it, as he heard the phone set down and footsteps coming. Taking the time to hand brush his hair and wake up, he could see his dad knock on the door of his bedroom.

"Marty, telephone call for you, from Doc Brown."

"OK, thanks dad, I got it," he said, now awake and picking the phone back up. "Heya Doc. Did I sleep too late again? I mean, geez, what time is it now?"

"Precisely 3:41 PM. You seem to have a pensive if unintentional habit of sleeping late, so I figured I would give you a call," came Doc's answer, in a friendly way.

"Holy sh*t, you're right about that!" Marty said urgently, now standing up fast. "I need a louder alarm, I musta slept right through mine. Anyway, I think I'll meet you at 4:15, I've gotta pack a couple things and take a quick shower. I told Jen we may be there not until 4:30, so I think we're safe. Thank God we're all in the same neighborhood pretty much."

"That's an advantage I took into consideration as well. The time isn't a problem either, Marty, I'll be waiting here for your arrival."

"OK, cool, thanks Doc. I'll see you soon," he said, hanging up and quickly running to his bathroom just a step outside his door.

~~~

4:00 PM.

After a practically Navy Shower and packing a few things to give the impression he really was camping –- a couple sleeping bags, his skateboard, and a small suitcase filled with a day's worth of clothes and some cassettes and the like – Marty headed down the narrow hallway toward the front door. He now was simply dressed in an orange T-shirt and Guess jeans.

His mom, Lorraine, was preparing an early dinner and had her typical glass of Vodka. George was watching an old TV show as usual, hardly paying attention to the world around him, but without Biff's work for the moment.

"Hey guys, I'm gonna head over to Scott's house, I heard he'll be able to borrow his parents' car after all," Marty said, leaving it at that, just in case questions came up.

"Well, why doesn't he come over here to pick you up?" asked Lorraine, not angry at all, but simply curious.

"Ahh, well, ya know, I don't think his dad wants him to put many miles on the car, and he does live out near the new Hilldale area."

Reaching for the door, Lorraine persisted, "Marty, that's still only 3 miles at the most. Surely where you boys are going is much further than that. You're saying his father can't afford to put another maximum of 6 miles on his car, just to come get you? Or is he sneaking it out without his dad's permission?"

He turned and briefly dropped his stuff on the floor lightly. "Mom, that's unheard of. If he were sneaking it out, you're right, the lake is way further than it is to here, so he wouldn't do that either. He just won't be home for another half hour or so, and if I left now I could meet him there at about the right time," he told her while hand gesturing a little. "Plus, I, you know, uh, could use the exercise." 

In effect, that's not something he would usually say, but Lorraine apparently bought it. "Okay honey, but you already went out to see Brown this morning to work on some car of his. When I was your age, I never went out this much, but just have a nice time. Call me if you can before you come back."

"Okay, I will. Sometime tonight," Marty assured, as George made his way to the refrigerator to get a drink.

"Have a nice time out there, son. Once again, I really am sorry about the car," he said, not knowing if Marty would buy it.

"I think I will. Dad, the car is already done, it's okay, I just wanna forget it for now. I'll see you in the morning."

With that, he got ahold of his belongings and shut the front door behind him. Standing in the afternoon sun, he breathed a sigh of relief and opened his 'suitcase' to take out his high-powered Aiwa Walkman and put in a mix tape of his. Setting the board down on his driveway, he skated off in the direction of Doc's house.

Not long before turning left and heading for Doc's house, he was caught up in the flow of weekend traffic, so he couldn't use the much easier method of car surfing he often did. Besides, that would be harder anyway, with carrying things. For the most part though, he was pretty content: Cruising through the streets on a nice day, on the way to his best friend's house, about to spend time with his girlfriend, while listening to a song from the band Loverboy. Life wasn't too bad.

With the speed he racked up, however, he recalled he really was "Working for the Weekend," just as his current song suggested. While at a busy intersection, though, he could hear the rumble of a loud engine he recognized almost right away. It was filled with 4 loud and rowdy teens, 2 of which were riding in the back in a really unsafe looking way.

"Hey, McFly! Where the h*ll you going today if you got all that stuff? What's the hurry, you off to meet your girlfriend for the night?" the driver, Douglas Needles, asked in a teasing voice, as his buddy in the front seat hi-fived him.

Stopping the tape deck and lowering the headphones so they sat around his neck, he simply said, "Yo, Needles. Just headin' to Doc's place actually. I might see her later, though."

He really wanted the light to turn green so these jerks could just beat it. He knew them all for years, having gone to school together since 6th grade, when the Needles family moved to Hill Valley. The other three he had known since early childhood, and they were hardly much better, if at all. All of the guys rarely actually showed up at school, and when they did, they caused trouble left and right. Marty always tried to stay out of their way. Unlike his father, though, he would never back down from a fight with them if need be.

"Oh yeah, well, what are you doing with the crazy old f*rt now, huh? You guys gonna go kidnap someone and do an experiment on 'em just like he did on his mansion in the 60's? Aaooowww!" he yelled, again earning him the laughter and praise of his friends.

Marty suddenly changed his expression. "Hey, listen to me jerk*ff, you're not gonna talk that way about my friends! I'm in a good mood, too, so don't make me open that door and kick your a*s!"

Needles managed to weave around the space he was in, and double-parked on the side of the street. His friend Ike, Biff cronie 3-D's teenage son, got out first because the passenger side of the truck was facing Marty's side of the street. Needles came out the same side as well. Ike and the two other guys watched intently as their leader approached Marty.

"So, what's the deal, punk? You really wanna fight me, here's your chance, McFly. I hope you're not chicken, are ya!" he barked, rolling up his sleeves.

His opponent clearly was not afraid of this. He had actually fought the three other guys before, but never Doug Needles directly. Still he wasn't afraid. "Nobody calls me chicken, you got that?" he called out, now angry at that word. Ever since he was real little, he couldn't stand being considered cowardly in any aspect and always wanted to prove himself. This was also because he, above all else, did not want to be compared to his dad in that way. George was a chicken in almost every way possible.

"Look, McFly, you might've been able to take my buddies here before, but that don't mean you can take me and win!" the bully said rather loudly. Just as he got close to Marty, he heard a voice.

"Attention slackers! What do you all think you're doing? Just because you're not in school doesn't mean you can't be disciplined on Monday," called Gerald Strickland, who was also driving nearby and heard the commotion.

Somehow, even Needles and his gang backed down to the 68 year-old bald yet mean vice principal of Hill Valley High School. That didn't mean he liked him though. "Uh, sorry Mr. Strickland. Yeah, baldie, whatever you say. I'll serve your dumb*ss detention, if I'm there," he proclaimed with a smirk.

Moving closer and grabbing the teen's leather jacket, he still tough as nails man barked, "Don't give me any attitude or violence, or it will be worse than detention. How does prison sound to you, Douglas Needles? For everything you've done, you deserve it. If I wanted, I could have you in Juvenile hall until August 6th of next year, than on your birthday, you'll be sent to a real jail cell where your inmates will hate slackers. If you hoodlums want to avoid punishment, you best all pile into Mr. Needles truck right now, drive off and don't let me see you causing trouble again!" he yelled authoritively.

"Yeah, yeah, let's get going. McFly, this ain't over yet," he snapped as he started the engine, peeling off in a U-turn seconds later, heading down JFK Drive toward Twin Pines Mall.

Mr. Strickland than turned to Marty. "McFly, what were you doing? You know better than to hang around those troublemakers. You're in detention next Monday."

That made a lot of sense. "B-but Mr. Strickland, sir, I didn't do anything. And, I wasn't hanging around them, I hate those jerky guys even more than you do."

"Is that so? At least you recognize them for what they are, Mr. McFly, but how do you explain the physical fight you were both about to get in?" the disciplinarian asked.

He decided not to tell him about the insult of Doc, especially since Strickland wasn't exactly best friends with the guy himself. Also, he wanted to deimplicate himself as much as possible. "I was just going along here and the punks all stopped and, uhh, insulted me. I just walked away, but then the guy challenged me to a fight. I'm not gonna just let somebody hit me."

"I believe parts of your story. But if that's true, why were you preparing to hit Needles as well?" he asked coldly.

"Didn't I just tell you? I wasn't gonna do anything until he insulted me. Even than, I walked away from it and he called me a chicken, and said I should fight him. I was just preparing to defend myself."

"Don't get smart with me, Mr. McFly. Now, knowing how Mr. Needles and his little friends can be, I do believe your story, but any scr*wups within the following week, and you'll be in for a long detention. I'll also see to it that your band won't play at the dance auditions, or any other school event for that matter. I've never been much of a rock and roll fan myself, but if good kids are in the bands, I will accept their music and performance. I don't take it from slackers, though. Besides, Mr. Lewis told me you were too loud yesterday, so just watch yourself, McFly, you're on very thin ice. I'll see you Monday morning, don't be late again!" he yelled as he stormed off, toward his parked VW van.

"Oh, yes sir. Thank you, I'll be there," said Marty half-sarcastically and half-thankfully. Before much more could happen today, he picked his board back up, along with everything else. Within 5 minutes, he breezed past Future Glass and into the Burger King parking lot, coming to a stop outside Doc's fence and looking at his watch.

A good day was slowly turning bad again. He hoped from this moment on, it would change back. It was 4:11. He still had 4 minutes before the time he said he'd be there. He actually was not only on time, but early for once. It was already looking to improve.


End file.
